Chapter 4

Bang!

Bang!

Shatter!

The sound of breaking glass sliced through the dark.

Fresh, freezing night air rushed into the room through the broken window.

I dragged myself over and pressed my face against the jagged frame, inhaling greedy, desperate gulps of air.

The cold air stung my swollen lungs like needles, but I could breathe.

I was alive.

Using my elbows, I squeezed my bruised body through the small window frame and crawled out.

Outside was the dark backyard of the estate. The night was silent, save for the wind rustling the leaves.

Dragging my broken right hand, I limped out of the Sterling estate.

The night wind was freezing, but the fire of hatred in my chest burned hot.

I didn't go to the hospital.

I knew that the moment I checked into a local clinic, the Sterlings would find me.

They would drag me back and find slower, crueler ways to torture me.

I had to run. I had to escape this hell completely.

Ignoring the agonizing pain in my hand and my weakened body, I walked all the way to the city’s grand suspension bridge.

The water below was deep, dark, and wild.

I took off my worn-out canvas sneakers and placed them neatly by the guardrail.

Then, I tore a piece of fabric from my shirt and pressed it hard against the open wound of my broken hand.

The dark red blood dripped onto the concrete, staining the floor and the metal railing.

Finally, I snagged the bloody piece of cloth on the wire mesh of the barrier.

Without looking back, I walked away into the dark.

From this day on, Victoria Sterling was dead.

She died on the cold night of her twentieth birthday.

I walked to a public payphone on a deserted street corner and dialed a number I had memorized but never dared to call.

"Hello? Who is this?"

James Vance’s voice came through the receiver—old, but commanding and powerful.

Hearing his voice, my mask of strength crumbled, and tears flooded my eyes.

"Grandpa James..."

"It’s me... Tori..."

"Save me..."

The line went silent for a second, followed by a sharp, furious gasp from James.

"Tori?! Where are you?! Don't be scared, sweetheart. I'm sending my men right now!"

Thirty minutes later, three black Mercedes-Maybachs pulled silently into the dim alleyway where I was hiding.

A dozen suited bodyguards immediately surrounded me.

When the head butler saw me covered in blood, pale and shivering, his eyes turned red with anger.

"Miss Victoria, look what they did to you..."

"Mr. Vance is waiting at our private medical facility. Let's get you home."

Sitting in the spacious, heated leather seat of the car, I watched the city lights fade away.

A cold, dark smile crept onto my lips.

The Sterlings. Olivia.

Everything you owe me, I will collect. With interest.